Projects

The Lab undertakes projects that develop and encourage the use of open technologies that enable rapid adoption of Energy Microgrids. Energy Microgrids enable consumer participation in choosing energy technologies and enable rapid market entry of new technologies. Significant barriers to Energy Microgrids include difficulty and expense of integration, difficulty in management by non-technical owners and operators, and fear of making a bad choice.

The Lab undertakes projects that address one or more of those issues. Projects are evaluated based on their ability to advance Smart Energy in Energy Microgrids, as well as on adherence to our technical values. These values include:

Open Source development and practice

Use of open standards where available in all interfaces

Commitment to support of NIST and IEC approved security

Assisting the technology community to understand and incorporate technology developed by The Lab into their own offerings

Systems that hide complex systems and that are agnostic in regard to internal communications or technologies

Early and wide adoption of standards for transactive energy

Adoption of standards or platforms for agent-based and collaborative software

Support a system of systems architectural approach.

Adoption of standards or platforms for safety compliance

Priority will be given to those technologies and platforms that adopt international standards, but consideration for scalability and robustness will also be considered. All projects will be evaluated for adherence to the Mission, the Values, and for the openness as to any controlling interests and other business related matters.